"Your rating of the Jimmy Butler trade made me think of the following question: can you rank the best and worst returns for a player with All-Star credentials traded in their "prime" (second contract)? Of active players, I can only think of: Butler, Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins, Pau Gasol, Kevin Love, Deron Williams and perhaps Goran Dragic. How does Butler's return rank in that list? I understand that context matters (The Chicago Bulls are not trying to be competitive, whereas the Denver Nuggets wanted players who could play now). My initial guess is that it seems pretty average, but would love to hear your thoughts."

-- Alejandro Yegros

It's tricky, and obviously subjective, but here's how I'd rank those returns at the time of the trade, adding Dwight Howard and Chris Paul to the list and taking out Dragic (who was never an All-Star and had less than a season remaining on his contract):

Favors had been the third pick of the 2010 draft, so the Jazz essentially got a pair of No. 3 picks for Williams. I'd argue that both were more valuable than anything the Bulls got for Butler. Harris was also a league-average player on a reasonable contract. As if that wasn't enough, Utah also got an extra first-rounder. What a haul.

The Nuggets basically got a whole lineup out of the Anthony trade, which set them up to go 18-7 the remainder of the season, 38-28 the following year and 57-25 in 2012-13 after adding Andre Iguodala. It's worth noting Denver also benefited from moving Chauncey Billups' salary in the trade. The Knicks used their amnesty provision on Billups months later to clear cap room to sign Tyson Chandler as a free agent.

While this was billed as a pair of No. 1 picks for Love, Bennett clearly didn't have that kind of trade value after a dismal rookie season. I'd say he was closer to a late-first-round pick at that point. Still, the Timberwolves got the No. 1 pick (Wiggins) in what was considered a loaded draft, and they could have had another first-round pick had they not shortsightedly sent it to the Philadelphia 76ers for Young as a replacement for Love. Minnesota ended up trading Young to the Brooklyn Nets at the trade deadline to bring Kevin Garnett back home.

Hindsight hasn't been kind to this trade, largely because knee injuries kept Gordon from making good on his potential in New Orleans. He was unquestionably a far better prospect at the time than Zach LaVine is now, Aminu is comparable to Kris Dunn, and while the Timberwolves' first-round pick ended up lower than expected, the 10th pick was still more valuable than the trade up from No. 16 to No. 7.

This package didn't have any standout, since Harkless and Vucevic were midround picks. But there was plenty of depth. The Magic were able to trade Afflalo back to the Denver Nuggets for Evan Fournier a year later, and Fournier, Harkless and Vucevic are all NBA starters. Orlando ended up using the two first-round picks to move up from No. 12 to No. 10 to get Elfrid Payton. The Magic also got off Jason Richardson's salary, though they took some back in Harrington and McRoberts.

6. Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls, to Minnesota Timberwolves, June

Return: Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, No. 7 pick (used on Lauri Markkanen)

7. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings, to New Orleans Pelicans, February

I think these returns were closer than conventional wisdom might suggest. While the Bulls got the better pick, they also had to give up No. 16 and didn't get the extra second-rounder. Dunn and Hield were fairly comparable in value at the time of the trade, so LaVine is the only advantage for Chicago despite the fact that Cousins' trade value was complicated by his reputation and desire to squash a deal.

It's important to remember here I'm evaluating these packages as they looked at the time of the trade. While Marc Gasol was playing well in Spain and looked more valuable than where he was drafted, I'd still assess his value close to a late-first-round pick rather than the All-Star center he's become. Crittenton was a 19th pick who had barely played, and both of the future picks were at the back end of the first round, so perhaps the biggest thing the Grizzlies seemed to get out of this trade was cap relief. Memphis ended up turning that flexibility into Zach Randolph, and he and Marc Gasol made the Grizzlies contenders.